Tree Removal Permit Guide for Richmond, BC

When Richmond requires a permit

Richmond’s Tree Protection Bylaw No. 8057 uses two measurements at once. A tree is protected when its trunk is 20 cm or more in diameter at 1.4 m and the tree also stands at least 4.5 m tall. A tree has to pass both tests.

Two places drop the size test. On City land, and inside an Environmentally Sensitive Area listed in Schedule E of the bylaw, any tree or woody perennial is covered whatever its size. Check Schedule E before you decide a small tree is outside the bylaw.

A newer consolidation of the bylaw takes in Bylaw 10307 and Bylaw 10715. It did not change the definitions or the Schedule A numbers.

What the permit costs

The Consolidated Fees Bylaw 8636 sets these amounts:

• one tree on a parcel in any 12 months, $70;
• two or more trees, $84.25 per tree;
• a renewal or extension, $70;
• a hazard-tree removal, $0.

Budget from the current bylaw, not an older fee sheet.

Replacement trees and cash in lieu

Schedule A sets replacement mostly by the kind of removal. On a one-family lot with no development, each tree comes back 1:1, with new stock of 6 cm caliper or 3.5 m in height. A removal tied to a rezoning, development permit, subdivision or works needs 2:1, and the stock rises to 8 cm caliper or 4 m. A significant tree needs 3:1.

Securities sit on top of the fee. For replacement trees the City holds $750 per tree on a subdivision, and $0 on other files. A tree you keep can carry a larger security: $5,000 for 20 to 30 cm, $10,000 for 31 to 91 cm, and $20,000 for a significant tree.

Confirm cash-in-lieu with the City of Richmond before you count on it.

How to apply

Richmond takes tree permit applications by email. Start from the City’s tree removal page, then send the application and the supporting documents to TreeProtection@richmond.ca. The Tree Protection Section in Building Approvals handles the file.

Confirm the review timeline with the City of Richmond when you apply.

What the arborist report covers

Bulletin TREE-04 sets the content of a Richmond arborist report. Confirm its current requirements with the City of Richmond.

Measurement follows the bylaw. Diameter is taken at 1.4 m. On a multi-stem tree the largest trunk counts in full and each other trunk adds 60% of its diameter. The report records height as well, since height decides protection on a private lot.

For trees that stay, the protection barrier goes at the dripline. If the dripline cannot work on the site, Bulletin TREE-03 gives a distance table by trunk diameter. The fence is a cross-braced 2×4 wood frame with snow-fence material, staked in place, with a sign on two sides.

Height matters as much as diameter

A tape around the trunk answers only half of Richmond’s question. Take a tree with a 30 cm trunk that stands 4 m tall on a private lot outside Schedule E. It is thick enough, but it is not tall enough, so it falls outside the bylaw’s definition of a tree. Put the same tree on City land and it is protected at any size.

At the other end of the scale, 92 cm caliper moves a tree into the significant class. Replacement rises to 3:1 and the security on a retained significant tree is $20,000. If a significant tree comes down without a permit, the replacement stays at 3:1 but the new stock must be 24 cm caliper or 8 m tall.

A Richmond tree inventory therefore needs height next to diameter for every tree, with any tree close to either line marked.

What we do and do not do

We prepare tree removal permit reports. Ask us before you order a Richmond report. We tell you whether we can take your file. We confirm availability for your address before we quote.

If the removal ground is a hazardous or high-risk tree, ask us first. Some Metro Vancouver bylaws require a report author who also holds the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification.

We do not offer emergency service. We do not supervise construction.